PDF Permissions

Runs in browser PDF Security & Privacy

See the current permission flags and encryption of a file, then set new ones: allow or deny printing (full or low resolution), copying, changes, annotations, form filling and assembly, protected by an owner password.

Privacy: Processed locally in your browser. Your file is not uploaded.

How do PDF passwords, permissions and redaction work?

PDF encryption (ISO 32000, AES-256 in current files) has two passwords: the user password opens the document, the owner password controls permissions such as printing, copying and editing. Permissions are advisory flags that compliant readers honour, not a cryptographic barrier. Redaction is different from covering: a black box drawn over text leaves the text in the file, whereas true redaction removes it from the content stream — and metadata, attachments and thumbnails can leak what the pages no longer show.

Security note: Before sharing a redacted or "cleaned" PDF, inspect its metadata and text layer: what a viewer cannot see may still be in the file. Permissions stop honest readers, not determined ones.

Read the guide: How to Edit a PDF Without Uploading It

Changing permissions needs the owner password only when a restricted file opens freely, and every result opens without a password.
Source: open passwordSource: restrictions
NoneSet
NoneNothing to enterUnrestricted files need no passwordCurrent owner passwordRequired, never bypassed. Every result lands here too
SetIts open passwordThe result no longer needs one to openIts open passwordNew restrictions replace the old; the open password is dropped
  • The source’s open password is removed in the result

Each cell names the password needed to change that kind of file. To keep an open password with new restrictions, set both in Protect PDF.

How to use PDF Permissions

  1. Drop a PDF and read the current permissions.
  2. Switch to "Set new permissions".
  3. Tick the allowed actions and set an owner password.
  4. Click "Apply" and download.

PDF Permissions features

  • View mode: current cipher and permission flags
  • Set mode: printing (full / low-res / none), copying, modifying, annotating, form filling, assembly, accessibility
  • Owner password required for restricted files that open without a password
  • New owner password of your choice or generated
  • AES-256 or AES-128
  • The result opens without a password: an open password on the source is not kept
  • Local processing

PDF Permissions example

Allow printing but no changes

Input:

Printing: allowed; copying: allowed; modifying: denied; annotating: denied; owner password: Q7…

Output:

handout-permissions.pdf — readers can print and copy, not edit

Frequently asked questions about PDF Permissions

Do I need a password to change permissions?

If the file already has restrictions and opens without a password, its current owner password is required — that is how the PDF standard works and this site does not bypass it. Unrestricted files need no password.

What if I leave the new owner password empty?

A strong random owner password is generated and shown once in the result. Keep it: it is the only way to change the permissions again later.

Are permission flags secure?

They are honoured by compliant readers, but the content itself is encrypted with a key any reader can derive, so a non-compliant tool can ignore them. Use an open password for confidentiality. This tool saves the file without one (an open password on the source is removed), so to have both, set the password and the restrictions together in Protect PDF.

Is my PDF uploaded to a server?

No. The file is opened and processed by your browser with WebAssembly and JavaScript; nothing is sent to Mutqan Soft or anyone else. Close the tab and the file is gone. Downloading the result needs a free account — no subscription, no payment.

Technical notes

Permission flags are read from /P of the /Encrypt dictionary (bits 3–12 per ISO 32000) and written back through the encryption API with an owner password. For a restricted file that opens without a password, the standard’s model — the owner password is the key to change permissions — is respected: the tool does not strip its restrictions unless you enter its owner password. For a file with an open password, the password you open it with is used and the new restrictions replace the old ones. The file is re-encrypted with an empty user password, so a source that needed a password to open no longer does; use Protect PDF to set an open password together with restrictions.

References